


Was it a Dream?

by DarkAliceLilith



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 01:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14298153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAliceLilith/pseuds/DarkAliceLilith
Summary: mermaid au.For a while, she considered that the woman she saw was something she dreamt up after hitting her head, then Magnus drunkenly began telling stories about mermaids.





	Was it a Dream?

**Author's Note:**

> For the [trope bingo](https://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org/) prompt: tall tale. 
> 
> I honestly don't know how I feel about this piece. I wanted to write something different and this is what I came up with.

Isabelle surfed along the waves, enjoying the freedom of being out in the water and the sun shining down on her. After a long week of finals, she had decided to reward herself by going to the beach with her brothers and going surfing. 

Of course, her brothers had wandered off. Jace to go woo some sunbathing girls and Alec to go on a walk with his boyfriend. Not that Isabelle minded. As much as she loved her brothers, being alone on the water was just fine for her. 

She rode some more waves before deciding to take a break for some lunch. As she started to make her way back, she saw a fin poking out of the water and she looked at it with wide eyes. The fin dipped back under and she started to swim faster towards the shore, praying the fin wasn’t what she thought it was, though she was sure the life guards would have gotten everyone out had there been one. 

“Done surfing already?” Alec asked, him and Magnus walking hand in hand up to where she was seated in the sand.

Isabelle nodded, her eyes scanning the surface of the water. “Needed something to eat,” Isabelle replied. “I couldn’t find Jace so I thought you and Magnus would make an appearance soon.”

Magnus laughed. “We saw him walk off with some girls, pretty sure he’s trying to woo himself into someone’s bed.”

“Of course he is,” Isabelle said, looking out at the water once more before standing up. “Should we try that new sushi place?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Isabelle had forgotten all about the fin in the water and they returned to the beach the next day. Once again her brothers abandoned her, but she didn’t mind, that meant she wouldn’t be drawn into yet another sibling surfing competition. 

She rode the waves for a while, until she saw it again. It was out further away and Isabelle thought for a moment that perhaps it was just a figment of her imagination. In her distraction, she managed to lose her balance on her board and plunge into the water.

When she opened her eyes, she had a headache and was on land. She didn’t remember much besides the burn of water being sucked into her lungs and the feeling of being dragged under. Slowly, she sat up and touched the back of her head where it ached and found a bump. When did she hit it? And also, how did she end up back on land?

She looked around for her surfboard, but her eyes instead landed on a beautiful, topless woman who was looking at her with concern. Isabelle froze up when she noticed the silvery shark tail behind her. Isabelle blinked a couple of times, trying to process what was in front of her until she heard a yell of, “Izzy!”

She turned towards the sound of her eldest brother’s voice to see him and Jace running towards her. She looked back to the spot where the woman had been only to find it empty.

Alec’s arms around her briefly pushed the woman from her mind and she looked up into her brother’s concerned face. “We saw you go under and then couldn’t find you,” He said, the words rushing out of him. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I-uh-I think I hit my head,” Isabelle replied, looking around, her eyes falling on the broken cord around her ankle that had been attached to her board. “Have either of you seen my surfboard?”

Jace shook his head as he and Alec helped her up. “No, but how about we get you home? You can borrow one of ours next time.”

Isabelle only nodded, her eyes flickering towards the water and she saw thought she saw the woman for a second before she disappeared. She shook her head and let her brother’s drag her back home. 

It was weeks before Isabelle went back to the beach. She wasn’t in her suit this time, instead walking in her regular clothes and avoiding going into the water. For a while, she considered that the woman she saw was something she dreamt up after hitting her head, then Magnus drunkenly began telling stories about mermaids.

Alec had suddenly cut him off, telling him to stop speaking nonsense. It was strange to hear her brother, who never discounted stories of the supernatural, to call it nonsense. Magnus had immediately went quiet and changed the subject, even when Isabelle tried to push further. 

As they all left the bar that night, Isabelle remembered hearing bits of a heated, whispered argument from the couple and her brother saying, “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” then Magnus retorting with, “I’ve been around long enough to know how to keep myself hidden.”

It struck her as strange how stories about mermaids would get someone hurt, and she began to think about the woman who saved her.

She stood at the edge of the water, in a small hidden section cut off from the rest of the beach by rocks where her brothers had found her. She heard a splash coming somewhere from her right and looked to see the woman from before sitting upon a rock jutting out of the water. 

“So you are real,” was all Isabelle said, taking a few steps closer. The woman looked ready to bolt at any second, but Isabelle just smiled. “I just want to talk. My name’s Isabelle, though everyone calls me Izzy.”

“Maia.”

“Maia,” Isabelle said with a soft smile. “Well, I want to thank you for saving me, Maia.”

“You’re welcome.”

Isabelle walked a little closer. The rock wasn’t that far from the beach and Isabelle could easily walk out to it without getting much more than her calves wet, but she kept to the sand, not wanting to scare Maia off. “I never thought I would meet a mermaid.”

“You’ve meant plenty of us,” Maia replied and Isabelle watched as her tail faded away and legs replaced it. She stood there and blinked a couple of times as Maia began to walk towards her. “We’re not completely bound to water. We must return, but we can walk on land.”

Her brother suddenly wanting to spend more and more time at the beach after meeting Magnus began to make more sense to her. “Magnus,” Isabelle said once Maia stood in front of her. “He’s one too, isn’t he?”

Maia nodded. “He’s been living along humans for centuries now.”

“Centuries? How long do you live?”

“Just short of immortal,” Maia answered with a smile. There was a noise just beyond the rocks and Maia turned back towards the water. “I have to go.”

“Wait.”

Maia looked over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“Can I see you again?”

Maia smiled and nodded. “Magnus will help you contact me. Goodbye, Izzy.”

“Bye.”

Maia swam away just as she heard Jace’s voice shouting, “There you are! We’ve been looking for you!”

Isabelle didn’t immediately turn away from the water, instead watching the shark fin that was poking out of the water as Maia swam away. She smiled softly, hoping that it wouldn’t be too long until she saw Maia again.


End file.
